Clothes-washing machine



E. HEINRICH.' `CLOTHES WVASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 1I.I92I.

Paan Mar. 7, N22.,

W@ .AVIYIILIIIIHI ENIVVIHIMT iii' UNITED srArEs man HEINRICH, orDE'rnoIT, MICHIGAN.

CLOTHES-WASHING MACHINE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar'. '7, 1922.

Application led April 11,1921. Serial No. 460,314.

To all @clima t may concern:

Be it known that I, ERICH HEINRICH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne. and State f Michigan, haveinvented certain newl and useful Improvements in Clothes-WashingMachines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and 4use the same.

This invention relates to an improved machine which is primarilyintendedfor washing clothes, but has the additional function of providing anleffective means for thoroughly mixing paints, dyes, and other fluids.

The principal object of the invention is.

to generally improve upon and simplify machines of this class and toprovide one em- .bodying a novel agitator which acts on the iiuid insuch a way as to insure an effective.

circulation thereof which will absolutely re move all dirt from clothesin a Very short time, the action of the fluid being suchfas to overcomepossible injury to the clothes as occurs with the types of washingmachines now on the market.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of the abovementioned type which embodies comparatively few, simple and inexpensiveparts which are so connected together that they can be easily separatedfrom one another for making repairs or for/any other purpose desired.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a washing machinefor clothes which embodies a novel agitator having on its lower end, anupwardly inclined annular deilector flange which serves to drive thewater or cleaning fluid toward the sides of the tub both on the upstroke and down stroke of the operating rod. Experience' with thisdevice has disclosed the fact that itvwill float the clothes andforcibly drive the water through them to remove all dirt in the leastpossible amount of time.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course `of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a operating rod 3 is slidable.

Ing' the agitator up, the arrows indicating the course that the cleaningfluid follows when the agitator'is moved'down.

Figure 2 1s a viewlike Fig. 1 showing the agitator moved down to itslowermost position, the arrows indicating the course the fluid takeswhen the agitator is moved upwardly. y

F1gure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane of the line3-3 of F 1g. l.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 1 designates a tub of. suitablelsize and deslgn having an internal centrally disposed upstandlng guidepost 2 through which an Surrounding and spaced from thls guide post is atubular open ended agitator 4. In order that this agitator mayaccomplish the end sought, it 1s equipped at its lower end with arelatively large-annular deflector fiange 5, the periphery of which isdirected upwardly as'shown to act on the cleaning Huid andcause it totake the various courses indicated by the arrows A and B. At itsupperend, the agitator tube is equipped with a second lateral flange 6 whichis smaller than the first named Hange and serves to confine waterbetween it and the inclined Hange 5 on the upward stroke of theoperating rod so as to insure that the water will be driven outwardlytoward the sides of the tub and then inwardly as indicated by the arrowsB. To Insure'eifective operation of the agitator, it 1s equipped withone or more apertures 7 for passage of air. Referring now to theoperating rod3, it will be seen that it is equlpped on its upper endwith a head 8 which includes a cylindrical portion 9 depending into andclosing the upper end of the agitator tube, together with an attachingflange 10 which is bolted or otherwise secured to the adjacent deflectoriange 6. If desired, a stuffing box 1l of any suitable construction maybe associated with the upper end of the guide post to age of Huid fromthe tub.

In use the clothes are placed in the tub in the usual way, the latterbeing filled with water so that the level thereof will be about in theposition indicated in the drawing. Assuming that the agitator andoperating rod is in the position lndicated in Fig. l, it will be seenthat when the operating rod is moved downward in the direction of thearrow C it will carry the agitator with it. In

so doing, the annular inclined deflector flange 5 on the lower endthereof will act on the water or fluid in such a way as to cause it torush from the center of the tub toward 'the walls thereof and thenupwardly and inwardly as indicated by the arrows A. On the other hand,when the operating rod moves upwardly in the direction of the`arrow D,it will lift the water above it and cause the water to take the courseindicated by the arrows 13. The water acting in this manner will causethe clothes to remain in a Heating position and will flatten them outsomewhat so as to permit the water to be easily driven through them. Inthis way, all movable matter will be taken from the clothes in a veryshort time. Furthermore, the clothes will be treated gently and possible injury thereof will be overcome.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings is thought to be sufiicient to enablepersons skilled in the art to obtain a clear understanding of theinven-` tion. Therefore, a more lengthy description is deemedunnecessary.

Since probably the best results may be obtained with the constructionand arrangement herein shown and described, this construction andarrangement is taken as the preferred embodiment of the invention.However, slight minor changes coming within the scope of the subjoinedclaims may be resorted to.

1. A clothes washing machine comprising A a tub, an upstanding tubularguide in said tub, an agitator surrounding said guide and having upperand lower outstanding flanges,

head carried by the said rod and connexzted to the upper end of saidagitator.

2. A clothes washing machine comprising a tub, a centrally disposedupstandingy tu bular guide post arranged therein, a tubular open endedagitator surrounding and spaced from said post, an operating rodslidable through the latter, and a head on the upper end of said rod,being connected to the agitator and serving to close the upper open en vof the latter.

A clothes washing machine comprising a tub, an upstanding guide, atubular agitator surrounding and spaced from the guide, being providedat its opposite ends with deflector flanges, the lower one of which hasits periphery directed upwardly for the purpose set forth, and anoperating rod slidable through the guide and connected to said agitator,

4. A clothes washing machine comprising a tub, a centrally disposedupstanding tubular guide post arranged inside of the tub, a tubularopen-ended agitator surroundin and spaced from said post, being rovideat its opposite ends with substantially circular deilector flanges, thelower one of which has its peripheral portion directed upwardly for thepurpose set forth, an operating rod slidable through the post, and ahead on the upper end of the rod connected to the agitator and servingto close the upper open end of the latter.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ERICH HEINRICH.

